Does anyone know the history of the "Mother Goose" rhymes?

Question

Who wrote them? When were they written? Were they written at the same time by the same person? Has any of the author's other works survived? Just curious.

Answer 1

"Mother Goose is the name given to an archetypical country woman, who is supposedly the originator of the Mother Goose stories and rhymes. Yet no specific writer has ever been identified with such a name, of which the first known mention appears in an aside in a versified chronicle of weekly happenings that appeared regularly for several years, Jean Loret's La Muse Historique (in 1660). His remark, ...comme un conte de la Mere Oye ("...like a Mother Goose story") shows that the term was already familiar.
There are reports, familiar to tourists to Boston, Massachusetts that the original Mother Goose was a Bostonian named Mary Goose who is interred at the Granary Burying Ground. According to Eleanor Early, a Boston travel and history writer of the 1930s and 40s, the original Mother Goose was a real person who lived in Boston in the 1660s. She was reportedly the second wife of Isaac Goose, who brought to the marriage ten children of her own to add to Isaac's ten. After Isaac died, Elizabeth went to live with her eldest daughter, who had married Thomas Fleet, a publisher who lived on Pudding Lane (now Devonshire Street). According to Early, "Mother Goose" used to sing songs and ditties to her grandchildren all day, and other children swarmed to hear them. Finally, her son-in-law gathered her jingles together and printed them.
In The Real Personages of Mother Goose (1930), Katherine Elwes Thomas submits that the image and name "Mother Goose", or "Mere L'Oye", may be based upon ancient legends of the wife of King Robert II of France. "Goose-Footed Bertha" is often referred in French legends as spinning incredible tales that enraptured children. The world authority on the Mother Goose tradition, Iona Opie, does not give any credence to either the Elwes Thomas or the Boston suppositions.
The initiator of the literary fairy tale genre, Charles Perrault, published in 1695 under the name of his son a collection of fairy tales Histoires ou contes du temps passés, avec des moralités, which grew better known under its subtitle, "Contes de ma mère l'Oye" or "Tales of my Mother Goose". Perrault's publication marks the first authenticated starting-point for Mother Goose stories.
In 1729 there appeared an English translation of Perrault's collection, Robert Samber's Histories or Tales of Past Times, Told by Mother Goose. John Newbery published a compilation of English rhymes, Mother Goose's Melody, or, Sonnets for the Cradle (London, undated, c.1765), which switched the focus from fairy tales to nursery rhymes, and in English this was the prime connotation for Mother Goose until recently.
The first public appearance of the Mother Goose stories in the New World was in Worcester, Massachusetts, where printer Isaiah Thomas reprinted Samber's volume under the same title, in 1786."

or

"Who was Mother Goose? Many she's and he's—different writers—in different times. The term has been traced to Loret's 1650 La Muse Historique in which appeared the line, Comme un conte de la Mere Oye ("Like a Mother Goose story"). Two French Queen Berthas have been conjectured as a "Mother Goose" but there is no traceable evidence that either was the reference in Loret's remarks.

In 1697 Charles Perrault used the phrase in a published collection of eight fairy tales which included "The Sleeping Beauty," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard," and others. Although the book was titled, (translated from French) Histories and Tales of Long Ago, with Morals, the frontispiece showed an old woman spinning and telling stories, with a placard on the page which bore the words Contes de la Mere l'Oye (Tales of My Mother the Goose). Perrault thereby set the stage for the name to become a household word.

The first English appearance of the name is sometimes erroneously credited to Robert Powel, who presented puppet shows between 1709 and 1711. An 1828 article misprinted as "Mother Goose," one of his scripts actually titled "Mother Lowse."

The single most important promoter of the designation of Mother Goose as writer of children's rhymes was John Newbery. With his adoption of her name for a collection of mostly traditional rhymes, he usurped her former alliance with the tales. The date for publication of this important edition is agreed by scholars to be about 1765 (1760-1766). Mother Goose's Melody: or Sonnets for the Cradle was a little volume, believed to have been edited by Oliver Goldsmith, with Goldsmith's decidedly unchildlike "maxims" as footnotes.

Newbery's book was widely pirated and numerous editions were reprinted in England, and in America at Boston and New York, with additional rhymes. The designation "Mother Goose Rhymes" took hold.

All documentation clearly disputes the legend of a supposed "Boston Mother Goose." Suddenly in 1860, a claim was made that the originator of the tales was one Elizabeth Goose, great-grandmother of publisher Isaiah Thomas's wife. Scholars have searched fruitlessly for the supposed "ghost volume" which simply does not appear to exist. In addition, all the dates connected with the Boston claim are "off." But despite the facts, nursery-rhyme pilgrims continue to visit the presumed gravesite to pay homage—presumed, because Elizabeth Goose's grave has no marker, and the misled pilgrims worship instead at the headstone of a "Mary Goose."

The fact is that "Mother Goose" rhymes are from many sources, passed down in folklore fashion (some even written by famous authors) and perpetuated by publishers, frequently without author attribution.

So, origins of Mother Goose terminology are vague—and authorship of the verses is known to be varied—yet, we all know that "Mother Goose" is—somehow—real."

Answer 2

I have a vague and scattered recollection of having heard these things at some time during my formative years, but I can't remember a lot of it. But I do remember that they reflect the politics of England, English royality and the English church of the day. I did find a site http://www.english.uwaterloo.ca/courses/engl208c/esharris.htm these long sites don't always show up. I did the search on google, and I put in "history of mother goose rhymes". Have fun, it is interesting

Answer 3

Who was Mother Goose?
Mother Goose is the name given to an archetypical country woman, who is supposedly the originator of the Mother Goose stories and rhymes. Yet no specific writer has ever been identified with such a name, of which the first known mention appears in an aside in a versified chronicle of weekly happenings that appeared regularly for several years, Jean Loret's La Muse Historique (in 1660). His remark, ...comme un conte de la Mere Oye ("...like a Mother Goose story") shows that the term was already familiar.

There are reports, familiar to tourists to Boston, Massachusetts that the original Mother Goose was a Bostonian named Mary Goose who is interred at the Granary Burying Ground. According to Eleanor Early, a Boston travel and history writer of the 1930s and 40s, the original Mother Goose was a real person who lived in Boston in the 1660s. She was reportedly the second wife of Isaac Goose, who brought to the marriage ten children of her own to add to Isaac's ten. After Isaac died, Elizabeth went to live with her eldest daughter, who had married Thomas Fleet, a publisher who lived on Pudding Lane (now Devonshire Street). According to Early, "Mother Goose" used to sing songs and ditties to her grandchildren all day, and other children swarmed to hear them. Finally, her son-in-law gathered her jingles together and printed them.

In The Real Personages of Mother Goose (1930), Katherine Elwes Thomas submits that the image and name "Mother Goose", or "Mere L'Oye", may be based upon ancient legends of the wife of King Robert II of France. "Goose-Footed Bertha" is often referred in French legends as spinning incredible tales that enraptured children. The world authority on the Mother Goose tradition, Iona Opie, does not give any credence to either the Elwes Thomas or the Boston suppositions.

The initiator of the literary fairy tale genre, Charles Perrault, published in 1695 under the name of his son a collection of fairy tales Histoires ou contes du temps passés, avec des moralités, which grew better known under its subtitle, "Contes de ma mère l'Oye" or "Tales of my Mother Goose". Perrault's publication marks the first authenticated starting-point for Mother Goose stories.

In 1729 there appeared an English translation of Perrault's collection, Robert Samber's Histories or Tales of Past Times, Told by Mother Goose. John Newbery published a compilation of English rhymes, Mother Goose's Melody, or, Sonnets for the Cradle (London, undated, c.1765), which switched the focus from fairy tales to nursery rhymes, and in English this was the prime connotation for Mother Goose until recently.

The first public appearance of the Mother Goose stories in the New World was in Worcester, Massachusetts, where printer Isaiah Thomas reprinted Samber's volume under the same title, in 1786.

Maurice Ravel wrote Ma Mère l'Oye, a suite for the piano, which he then orchestrated for a ballet.

Answer 4

The origins of tales are obscure, somewhat, but are usually traced to French writer Charles Perrault, who wrote (in 1697), "Stories or Tales from Olden Times." The book was also known as "Tales of Mother Goose."
In England and especially the U.S., the authorship of the collection of tales is VERY obscure.

Answer 5

I have a book called "The Annotated Mother Goose"
It has the origin and facts about the rhymes. Not all of them can be traced. Also "An Underground Education" is a good book for telling about fairytales and their origins.

Answer 6

I found this site for you to read, it is very interesting. All about the makings of mother goose and when it was first told. Hope this helps in your search.
http://www.mothergoose.com/History/mgStory.htm